A/N: Hey guys :) I have returned. I feel like I'm always apologizing because of my update time. I have no excuse. . My muse was just on vacation. To make up for it, I made this chapter a long one. Keep the reviews up; I absolutely love the feedback! Well I'll keep this note short. On with the fic!

Chapter 17

The Captive

He stood outside of her door. He had been standing there for what seemed like an eternity. He had to make a decision.

Should he enter her room? Or should he enter his own? Alone?

The word "alone" made him shudder.

He knew that she said she wanted to take things slow, but that idea was almost painful. He had missed her. And now she was just so close, and her essence was drawing him in like a moth to a flame.

He stared at the door handle. He already knew it was unlocked because he had given it a cautious twist to confirm it.

So, was this her blatant way of telling him that he had permission to enter? Or was he looking into the matter entirely too much?

He ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated manner. Damn he wanted that woman. He was certain that if she could see the condition that she had put him in, she would laugh hysterically.

He smirked to himself at the thought of her smile.

He wanted her to be happy, and the last thing he wanted to do was make the wrong move. She had said that she wanted to take things slow, and he would abide to her new rule, at least for now. The thought of their first night together had consumed his mind, and he wanted to do it again very, very soon.

He reluctantly turned towards his own door, and entered his room for the night.

Alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

He got up early the next morning. He had every intention of getting his work out in early, so he could designate his day just for her. He didn't care if it took forever, he would prove to her how much he loved her.

He went to the training room and got a quick work out in, and then headed to his room for a shower.

After he bathed, he quickly got dressed and made his way down towards the kitchen. He knew Rogue was fond of her food, and he was going to cook her up her favorite breakfast. It was a little concoction that consisted of cutting a hole in the center of a piece of bread, and frying an egg in the middle. They had argued about the name of it many times. He had called it a bird's nest, while she was somehow under he impression that it was called a popeye egg. In his opinion, his name for it made way more sense. He also planned on cooking her up some of his famous blueberry pancakes.

As he started to cook, he heard a grunt from Wolverine as he entered the kitchen. That sound alone signified that the older man had acknowledged and accepted the fact that he had returned to the mansion. Last night, he was almost friendly.

He put on some coffee, and the other man came over and helped himself. He raised an eyebrow in Remy's direction. "Hungry?"

Remy smirked. "It's not just for me."

Logan could only roll his eyes as he exited the kitchen.

Remy glanced at the clock and noticed that it was almost nine. Rogue was most likely up right now and getting ready for her day. He knew that whatever she had planned, she would definitely make a stop in the kitchen first.

He arranged their plates side by side, and set a heaping mound of pancakes and bird's nests (or popeye eggs) in the center.

He poured two cups of steaming coffee, and made sure to place plenty of sugar packets next to hers.

The others started to come into the kitchen, smiling knowingly at him. Jean even let out an "Aww", and then proceeded to playfully slap Scott saying that he should do that for her.

He glanced at the clock and became slightly impatient when he realized it was 9:30 A.M. He just figured that although it was unusual, she had decided to sleep in a little later than normal.

When another hour passed, he realized that she wasn't coming down. He stood and stared at the layout before him. He couldn't be mad at her though, because he hadn't exactly asked her to join him. He was just going off of her routine, and he knew that this was always a mandatory stop for her.

He made her a plate, zapped it in the microwave for a few minutes, and proceeded to head to her bedroom. If she wasn't going to come to him, he would go to her. Besides, who didn't like breakfast in bed?

He smirked to himself. He had never made another woman breakfast before. It was always the member of the opposite sex that had catered to him in the mornings, that is if he even decided to stay that long. It was a rare occurrence.

He bounded up the stairs two steps at a time until he came to her room.

As he stood outside of her door, he knocked lightly. "Chère?"

There was no answer. He knocked a little harder, and when there was still no response, he decided that there wasn't any harm with him entering. At least he hoped so. He was more than aware that his Chère had quite the temper. Everyone in the mansion knew that.

He cracked open the door, and immediately noticed that her balcony doors were open. He glanced at her bed, and also noticed that it was empty and made up.

He looked around her room. He saw that her dress was still on the floor, which was strange. Why would she make up her bed, and not do a little mundane task like pick her clothes up off of the floor?

He checked her bathroom, which also indicated that she hadn't showered that morning.

Odd.

He knew he was probably over reacting, but he carefully touched the bristles of her toothbrush, and found that they were dry. Her flying out of the mansion through the balcony doors without getting ready was highly unlikely. The dry bristles indicated that she left either last night or extremely early this morning, and both scenarios were doubtful.

He picked up the plate and was headed out when he saw a groggy Bobby exiting his room. "Hey, have you seen Rogue?"

Bobby rubbed his eyes and blinked them a few times. "When did you get back?"

Remy realized that communicating with Bobby was a wasted effort, and he handed him the plate of food. "Bon appetit."

Bobby looked down confused, but happy. "Thanks man!"

"Don't mention it." Remy had much more serious issues to deal with at the moment.

He headed down towards Emma's room. He knocked lightly, and heard a groan from the other side.

"Emma, can I come in?"

He could here her answer from the other side. "If you must."

He opened the door, and saw that Emma was in her bathroom with the door cracked.

He pushed it open a bit further, and found her hugging the toilet seat for dear life. She looked like a disheveled mess, which was extremely out of her character. She glanced in his direction and narrowed her eyes. "I said you could come in my room, not barge in my bathroom!"

Remy leaned against the doorframe and smirked. "You know you have to make things clear with me."

She was about to retort when another wave of sickness hit her. She heaved in the direction of the toilet. When she was finished, she turned back to address him. "I seriously have nothing left inside if me, yet my body insists otherwise. Whoever said that pregnancy was a miracle was clearly insane."

She sat back on her heels and turned her head in his direction. "Well, did you come to watch the show, or is there another reason you have graced me with your presence?"

"As good as this is, there is another reason. Have you seen Rogue?"

For the first time Emma smirked. "You mean she didn't fuck your brains out last night? Lord knows she was thinking about it at Kitty's reception."

Remy stored that little bit of information in his head. He would definitely use it to his advantage. "No, she was in her room when I got in. I didn't want to disturb her."

Emma turned back towards the toilet and let out another heave. When she was finished she wiped her mouth and shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't seen her. Now if you will excuse me, I would like to barf and be in utter misery by myself."

Remy awkwardly ran his hand along the back of his neck. "Do you want me to get Scott-"

"NO!"

He had barely finished the sentence before she answered.

"I don't know if you realize it or not Gambit, but Scott has made his choice, and it wasn't me."

He was almost feeling sorry for her, but then she continued. "Now would you get the fuck out of my room? You smell like fried eggs and it is absolutely awful."

He grinned down at her. "I'll be sure to bring you a plate up."

She immediately turned back to the toilet, and he grinned to himself as he exited the room.

As he shut the door behind him, he headed back to Rogue's room to see if there was any sign of her return. When he found that there was none, he knew whom he had to talk to. He reluctantly made his was to the danger room.

XXXXXXXXXX

When he entered the observation room, he saw the gruff man below tearing into sentinels like they were mere tuna cans.

Remy knew it was a dangerous move, but he canceled the simulation.

The furious little man abruptly turned in his direction. "There better be a damn good reason you just did that Gumbo, or else I'm gonna slice off something on your body that I know your very fond of."

"I'm fond of everything on my body."

Wolverine snarled in his direction. "Trust me, it seems you like this one thing more than everything else."

Remy smirked at him. "Wolverine, I would appreciate it if you stopped talking about my dick. Its almost obsessive of you…although it would explain why you never have any female company…"

The shorter man let out a growl, and Remy decided to get to the point. "Have you seen Rogue?"

Wolverine stood up a little bit straighter, and actually looked slightly uncomfortable. "No, I uh….I thought she would be with you."

"As much as I wish that was true, she wasn't. I haven't seen her since the reception."

The gruff man raised his eyebrows. "You actually decided to respect her wishes? That's out of your character Cajun."

"I know. It wasn't easy."

Wolverine eyed him for a moment. "You really do love her, don't ya?"

Remy instantly became serious. "With everything in my being."

"Okay, okay, don't get all mushy on me. I'll check her room out."

Remy nodded, and proceeded to follow the other man up to Rogue's room.

XXXXXXXXXX

Moments later, Wolverine had determined that Rogue had left her room through the balcony doors.

Remy had come to that conclusion himself, and was frustrated when that was Wolverines only theory.

"Can you check the grounds?"

Wolverine raised an eyebrow. "You worried about somethin' Cajun?"

"It's just not like her to take off, at least not from the mansion."

The older man pointed a finger in his direction. "If you even did one thing to run her off, I'll—"

Remy cut him off before he could finish. "I didn't."

"Well than, I'll go outside to see what I can pick up." He then leapt out the window, and landed with a loud 'thud' on the grassy grounds. He was in the process of turning around with a smug look on his face, when he discovered that Gambit had already made it down right next to him. "How did you…"

"Wolverine! You underestimate me. I'm agile and I used to be a thief."

The other man grunted in response. He lifted his nose in the air, indicating that he had caught sent of something. Remy observed him, and couldn't help but feel appreciative for the older man's help. He was a necessity to the team, and they wouldn't have been able to accomplish half of the missions without him, but he would never tell him that.

Wolverine lowered his head back down. "She went this way."

Remy followed him until they made it to the garden. Remy looked around, and noticed that nothing was out of the ordinary.

He turned to Wolverine, and wasn't so certain when he saw his face. "She was here, with three other people. And one was definitely Kara. The other two I have never smelled before."

Remy quickly looked for a sign of struggle and found that there was none. He wondered how this was possible since Rogue was pretty much indestructible. "Can you tell where they went off too?"

He was slowly becoming frantic.

Wolverine only shook his head. "No. The trail goes dead. They must have covered it somehow."

Remy turned away before Logan was even finished. He was going to their resident telepath to see if she could locate Rogue with Cerebro.

XXXXXXXXXX

Emma wasn't to keen at the idea of leaving the bathroom, but she quickly changed her mind when she discovered the circumstances.

They had been using Cerebro for hours now, and they were nowhere closer to finding where she was.

Emma reluctantly removed the headpiece. "Where ever she is, her powers are most likely inhibited. I tried tracking Kara, and there was no trace of her either."

She turned to Remy when she spoke next. "I also tried to locate Shaw. It is as if he has disappeared. I fear that what ever has taken place, he has something to do with it."

Remy began to pace the floor. "How the hell would Kara even know to contact Shaw? That bastard didn't even know who the fuck he was when we saw him!"

Emma stood up from her seat. "Kara did go on the mission with us when we destroyed Sinister's lab. She could have easily figured things out. Plus, when she was a captive I'm sure she would have heard word about Shaw somehow."

Remy quickly turned to head out the doors. Wolverine followed him.

Emma quickly jogged to catch up to the two. "Where the hell are you both going?"

Remy didn't even turn around when he spoke. "I'm goin' to Stuart's Place. That son of a bitch knows something, and I'll do anything to get the information out of him!"

Emma huffed at his response. "That's your grand idea? You will be killed on sight. We need to have a meeting to catch everyone up…then we can decide what to do."

Remy stopped and turned towards her. "We can't waste another minute! You didn't see the look of pure horror on her face when she saw that man! And now he is doing God only knows what to her."

Emma became angry. "You think I'm not worried? I actually had to deal with the man! I do know one thing though. He is angry with her, yes. But he won't damage or kill her. She is too valuable to him. We have to meet and devise a plan Remy, and then we can at least go from there. If you go to Stuarts mansion now, its almost a guarantee that you'll be killed, and than what good are you to her?"

Remy balled his fist with impatience, but he knew she was right, "Fine. Call the meeting. But I am still going over there when we're are finished."

"That's fine. We will at least have a plan then."

Emma suddenly remembered something. "We should use the communicator tracker first. That's how she found you when you left."

Remy had wondered how she had located him. "Will it work even if it isn't turned on?"

Emma was quickly leading the small group to the device room. "Yes."

When the device was activated, Remy quickly searched for her location, and wasn't surprised when they turned up empty handed. "We're wasting time with this shit. Call the meeting; after that I'm outta here."

The three headed to the war room as Emma sent out a telepathic message to the X-Men.

XXXXXXXXXX

When the others were briefed about what had happened, they immediately began to brainstorm possible ideas of where they should start. They had all reluctantly come to the decision that they needed all the help they could get, and Kitty and Piotr would have to have their honeymoon cut short.

They also agreed to contact the professor about everything.

They finally decided to go scout out Mr. Stuart's mansion, since he was their only actual lead to determine the whereabouts of Shaw.

Since it was just a scouting mission, Remy, Wolverine, and Jean were selected to go, much to the protest of Scott. But it was determined that they would need a telepath to listen into the thoughts of the enemy, and even Scott knew the dangers that could occur to his unborn child within Emma. There for, he reluctantly agreed.

The three crouched in the brush outside of the mansion gates. Remy silently cursed to himself for agreeing to take the other two with him on the mission. To him, it sounded like a parade marching behind him. They really had to work on their covert tactics. Jean was the worst of the two, and seemed offended when Remy suggested that she might as well run naked screaming in the front yard. She became a tad quieter after that.

He observed the grounds, and noticed that there were no guards in place. Jean put out the coils of her telepathy, and had found the same.

He glanced around at the numerous security cameras and devices, and became concerned when he couldn't see the tell tale sign of a flashing red light showing that they were active.

He made a quick decision on his own, and took off at a silent rapid pace towards the mansion.

Wolverine hissed after him. "What the hell are you doin' Cajun? You're gonna blow our cover!"

Remy chose to ignore him and ran to the closest window.

His heart fell in his chest when he looked inside.

The place was completely empty.

The other two were quickly behind him. Wolverine was about to lecture about patience to the younger man, when he was silenced by Jean. He decided to listen when he saw the look on Gambit's face. He had seen that look before on more than one occasion. It was a look of despair.

Remy shook his head back and forth. He felt like he was in a nightmare. If there was no one here, they had no starting point and no lead. They would be completely clueless on the whereabouts of Rogue.

Jean came up behind him, and rested her hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her Gambit, maybe we should got back and try using Cerebro again."

He quickly shrugged away from her touch, and decided to do some further investigating of his own. He charged a card and threw it at the nearest wall of the large home. There was a large explosion, and when the dust finally settled, there was a great gaping hole in the brick. Remy gestured at the other two to follow.

Jean glanced at Logan with a concerned look on her face. It wasn't exactly in their teammate's character to act reckless like he was.

They entered the mansion, and found that it was indeed, completely empty. Stuart made sure that he did an excellent job covering up his tracks.

Wolverine sniffed the air. "Nothing. All I can smell is bleach. They must have scrubbed the place down to cover up anything."

Remy knew it was hopeless, but he headed upstairs to the room that used to be Stuarts private office. The other two glanced at each other before following.

When Remy entered, the first thing he noticed was that this room still had all its furnishings. He quickly barked out orders. "Search everything. This is where we found those documents."

The mention of "we" made his heart drop. He should have never let Rogue come with him on that mission. If she hadn't, she may have still been with them. Better yet, he should have just left her alone all together. Kara would never have gone bat shit crazy if he had done so. This was his punishment for attempting to be happy. This was Karma for all of the women that he had hurt in his past. For the first time in his life he had actually fell hard for a woman, and she was ripped from his grasps.

Wolverine interrupted his thoughts. "There's nothing here Gambit."

Remy shook his head back and forth. "No. There has to be something!" He frantically began to pull apart the desk, throwing the drawers on the floor as he did so.

Jean spoke softly. "Remy, let's regroup back at the mansion. We will find her. We all want her home safe."

Remy ignored her, and turned his attention towards the safe he knew was hidden in the couch across the room. He quickly threw the cushions to the side, and plugged in the code that he had memorized. He lifted the heavy door back, and was greeted with a small device with bright red glowing numbers. An electronic voice then spoke from the small device. "Activated. Will self destruct in ten seconds." All of the sudden, metal slabs appeared and sealed all of the windows.

He jumped up and ran towards the others. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! IT'S A BOMB!"

Nine…

The other two wasted no time and ran after him. He attempted to blow up the metal on the windows so they could make a quick escape, but it was useless.

Eight…

The three bolted out of the room and ran towards the stairs.

Seven…

Six…

Five…

On the last flight, Jean took a spill and landed with a hard thud on the main floor. She attempted to stand and quickly collapsed in agony.

Four…

"I think I broke my leg!"

Three…

Wolverine quickly scooped her up within his arms as the made their way to the large hole in the wall that Gambit had created.

Two…

They finally made it to their destination and ran away from the building as fast as they could.

One…

All of the sudden there was a deafening silence, followed by the sound of a large explosion. The force threw Remy against the ground, and he lay still gasping for air. He couldn't seem to breathe. He felt fluid on the front of his uniform, and already knew that it was blood.

He managed enough energy to look towards the other two, and was relieved when he saw them trying to rise from the ground. Jean looked over in his direction, and her eyes widened when she took in the sight of him. It made him wonder how bad of shape he was in.

She quickly hopped up, dragging her lame leg behind her. She fell to the ground by him and began to apply pressure on his chest with her hands. "Hang on Gambit, the others will be here shortly."

She was shouting something to Wolverine, but her words were increasingly becoming softer. Finally the sound seemed to drown out all together, even though her mouth was still moving and directed towards him. He rested his head back, and noticed that his vision was darkening as well.

He had let her down. He had stupidly run in the mansion without checking for any type of self-activating explosives. He should have known better. That had to be the reason they had cleaned the place with bleach. They knew the X-Men had a member with keen senses, and they were trying to mask the bomb. Shaw knew that this would be the first place that they would run to, and Remy stupidly had taken the bait. For the first time in his life he prayed. He prayed that even if he died, she would return home safe.

He looked up behind his heavy lids and saw the look on Wolverines face. The old bastard was actually concerned for him. If he made it through this, he would make sure that Logan never heard the end of it He suddenly felt content. He knew that they would never stop searching for Rogue, with or without him.

He finally gave in and let the darkness surround him.

XXXXXXXXXX

She slowly opened her eyes. From the weight of them, it felt like she had been knocked out for some time.

She slowly sat up, and thought her brain was going to explode. She knew it was fruitless, but she tried to heal herself. She wasn't surprised when she discovered that she couldn't use her powers.

She huffed to herself as she took in her surroundings. She wasn't expecting what she saw.

The walls were painted a pretty shade of green, and she was lying in a large bed with frilly décor. There was also a window, but it was heavily barred with thick steel. It reminded her of windows from an old insane asylum. She raised herself from the bed, and was a little relieved to find that she was still clothed in her pajamas.

She went over to the window to see if there was anyway possible way for her to escape. She opened the window, and gave the exterior bars a hard pull. She wasn't surprised when they didn't budge. She knew that without her strength it was useless to try. She glanced out in the distance, and thought she could see the shore.

The damn bastard probably shot her up with the inhibitor serum. She quickly remembered that Kara had played her own little part in her abduction. She felt the anger flow throughout her body, and swore that if she ever got out of here alive, she would teach that crazy bitch a lesson that she would never forget.

She turned around from the window to see if there were any other options she could come up with to escape. She noticed that her room was equipped with a bathroom and a small sitting area, but other than that there wasn't much else to it. She sighed in frustration as she sat back down on the bed. She noticed a very small device in the corner, and saw that it was a camera. She smiled sweetly towards it, and raised her middle finger in its direction.

It wasn't long before she heard the handle being turned. She quickly stood and got into a defensive stance. She may not have her powers, but that didn't mean that she couldn't put up a good fight. She was thankful that Wolverine had trained them to fight without relying on their abilities.

She was surprised when a sweet looking older lady entered the room. "There's no need for violence dear. I'm just here to check your vitals."

Rogue cautiously backed away from the older woman as she came near. The grey haired lady gave her a sad smile. "I'm not going to hurt you honey, I'm just the doctor."

Rogue remained silent as the other woman came and placed a stethoscope up to her back. She then reached down to her wrist, and looked at her watch as she took her pulse. "Everything looks normal. You'll be up and running in no time."

"Where am I?"

"Trask Island."

"We're on an island?"

"Yes. A very large one."

"Why are you helping him?" Rogue didn't have time to beat around the bush. She decided to get right to the point.

The older woman gave her a sad look. "Not everyone on this island is here against their will. After Genosha was burned to the ground, many of its inhabitants had nowhere to go. This is the only place that they could escape to."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "So Shaw couldn't even come up with an idea of his own?"

"Mr. Shaw didn't create the island. Trask enterprises did."

Now that surprised her. Why would a group of mutant haters create a haven for mutants? It didn't make any sense. "Why would they offer a place like this?"

"To weed out the mutants and the carriers. They are paying another Doctor to experiment with ways of extracting the X-Gene permanently."

This really surprised her. She knew that the doctor the other lady was referring to had to be Sinister. "Like a cure?"

"Yes. Only it is mandatory that all mutants receive it. It is still in the works, and that is why they haven't requested that all mutants move here just yet."

Rogue snorted to herself. "Requested? That's a joke. More liked forced. Are you a mutant?"

"I am."

"Than how can you work for them?"

"I'm not a threat to them. I'm a healer; there for I was placed as the resident Doctor. I figured the least I could do was make sure that everyone was okay. You shouldn't be so quick to judge others, dear. It's a bad characteristic of a young lady."

Rogue decided to continue her investigation. The older woman seemed nice enough, and she needed all the help that she could get. "Can I leave this room?"

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, but you are in Mr. Shaw's home and that is out of the question."

"What is his role in all of this?"

"He is our leader."

Of course he was, that was most likely what the documents were discussing. Anther thought came to her mind. "I know for a fact that he would not willingly give up his mutation."

The older woman glanced around and lowered her voice. "You shouldn't be so inquisitive. That can get you in trouble around here."

Rogue thought out loud. "He has protection. They are going to let him keep his powers so he can control our population."

Again, the older woman gave her a disapproving look, but answered her. "Yes."

"So he has non mutants here too? Just carriers? Why would they have to take the cure?"

The other woman glanced around and again lowered her voice. "Because, they could breed and potentially produce a pure mutant. They are eliminating the X- Gene completely. It will no longer exist."

The revelation frightened her. They would make sure that mutants would no longer exist. "What's your name?"

"Dr. Hummel, but you may call me Lorraine if you wish."

"Well Doc, I was taken here against my will, and I have people that will be looking for me. Once they find me, they aren't going to be too happy. They will most likely try to figure out how to evacuate this place so they can destroy it."

Deep down inside she knew that Remy was looking for her, and she knew he would go to the end of the earth for her. It was stupid that she hadn't known this before, and it took a situation like this for her to actually see it.

Dr. Hummel again lowered her voice. "I pray that's true, but for now don't fight them. They will make your life hell if you do."

"Fight who?"

"The Neutras. Clones created by the Doctor. They are the security on this island. Besides being extremely aggressive, they were also created to inhibit mutant powers, just in case."

"So not all the mutants here are without their powers?"

"The ones that came here willingly still have theirs intact, but once a permanent cure is discovered we all will be treated."

"So why can't I just be kept with everyone else that has to be inhibited?"

The older lady looked slightly uncomfortable. "Mr. Shaw has a certain amount of ladies that he keeps close for his personal…uses."

Rogue quickly stood from the bed. "You mean…"

She didn't need to finish her question. She could already see the answer written on the older woman's face.

"He will treat you well if you don't fight him."

Rogue laughed sardonically. "No offense, but you don't know our history. I don't see him making things easy for me."

The Doctor stood up and rested her hand on Rogue's shoulder. "I hope that's not true." She then turned to leave the room. "You have limited internet access on the tablet on the table. You can order things like food or necessities to be delivered to you as long as it is approved. We all have to dress in uniform and that will be delivered to you shortly. Yours may be…slightly altered." She turned to her a final time before she left. "I hope that your friends do find you dear." She closed the door behind her.

Rogue began to pace. She had to get out of here. There was no way in hell that she would sit around and just wait for that monster to come to her and…she cringed at the thought.

She turned the door handle, and knew that it was locked. It too was made of thick steel, but that didn't stop her from throwing her shoulder against it a few times.

She went over to the computer tablet and pulled up the limited internet. She wished she were technologically advanced like Kitty. That way she could maybe at least hack the guarded internet and attempt to contact the outside world.

Her heart stilled when she heard heavy footsteps heading towards her door. She became even more concerned as they stopped right outside of it. She backed away to the furthest area of her little living quarters. When the door swung open, her heart stopped altogether. It was Shaw, and he had a menacing look on his sharp features. She knew that his visit wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Ah, so you have finally awakened my little rose."

She remained silent.

"No words for your King?"

"Yeah… what the hell do you want?"

There was a flash of white, and another person backhanded her. She picked herself up off of the floor, and felt blood trickling from her nose. The person that had hit her, if you could even call it a person, was terrifying. Although she could tell that it was male, it really was odd looking. Ghost white skin, white eyes, and white hair. She knew that this must be one of the Nuetras that the Doctor was talking about.

"You will not disrespect the King, you filth!" Well he could talk well enough.

He moved in to attack again, and Shaw raised his hand. The Nuetra ceased his actions and obediently stood besides him. "That will do. I don't want her badly damaged. At least not yet."

His voice sent an unpleasant chill down her spine.

"I have no doubt that Dr. Hummel informed you of why you are here. You are here for a purpose, and if you don't fight it, you will actually find it very pleasant."

She glowered at him. "You are stupid if you think that Trask isn't going to make you get the cure too."

He raised his eyebrows at her remark. "If they try, I shall kill them. Don't you worry about my affairs my dear. They need me. And our little agreement is still on the table. If I offer you my protection, you can't be cured or harmed. You are a rare type of mutant, and you will be very powerful if you ruled by my side."

She spit in his direction, and it landed on his expensive looking suite. The Nuetra at his side attempted to move, but again Shaw spoke. "Its okay Egen."

He calmly took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed at the new wet spot on his shirt. "You have a strong will. An admirable trait under different circumstances if I may say so, but not here. I had a mare like you once. She had a strong temper and fire within her. But even the strongest will can be broken."

He turned to exit the room. "I think your bad temper will be extracted in a week or so. Kara will be visiting you later this evening. I hear you two have a lot of catching up to do."

Rogue glowered and spoke up. "They will come for me! And when they do, I'm going to kill you."

He chuckled in her direction. "Your little X-Men? Of course they will. I'm counting on it my little rose. Miss Frost and I have some catching up of our own to do. I don't take betrayals lightly. And you know well enough that you cannot harm me."

He opened the heavy door. Rogue thought for a moment about bolting out of it, but decided against it. Shaw's little guard dog, Egen or whatever his name was, looked like he was itching to attack. She decided that she would wait for another opportunity.

"Come Egen. Let Ms. Rogue get her rest. She has a long night ahead of her."

The pale man reluctantly obeyed, and they were out of her sight just as quick as they had entered.

It was only a few moments before the door opened, and another Nuetra threw in a package. She noticed that all of them must look the same since they were clones.

She cautiously opened the package, and was immediately disgusted by the contents. Inside was a flimsy looking corset, along with fishnet stockings and thigh high boots. It appeared that her uniform was much different than the others'. She thought back and realize that Emma had warn an outfit similar to this one. She wondered if she had been subjected to the same arrangement.

Once again, the door was opened, and three Nuetras stood at the entrance. "Come here filth." So that one must be Egen. The only reason she could tell was because his hair was longer than the others' and he was dressed a little differently. It must have been one of the little perks for being Shaw's number one lackey.

She refused to move, and he swiftly entered and dragged her by her hair to the door. "You will obey."

He quickly lifted her up by her hair, and placed her hands in a device that looked similar to handcuffs.

She took the opportunity to take in her surroundings, and catalogue any possible escape routes for future references.

Any thoughts of her own escape quickly diminished when she saw the security that was absolutely fucking everywhere. Since they were in Shaw's personal mansion, it seemed that things were probably even more guarded. They went through a series of checkpoints, until they reached a very large room. There was no furniture, and the walls were painted a boring shade of white. However, she did notice the many bloodstains on the ground. She also noticed that there were splatters here and there on the wall. The room itself was massive. The only thing she could compare it to was her high school gymnasium.

The man now known as Egen, roughly removed the restraints from her wrists. He gave her an evil stare before taking his leave. As soon as he shut the door, she ran towards it and pushed and pulled, but it was no use.

She slowly turned around. She had an uneasy feeling about this place.

She noticed a small movement out of the corner of her eye, and discovered that it was a tiny mouse making its way towards her. It didn't seem to be scared of her at all, which was weird. The mouse finally came within five feet of her, and began to shift.

She should have known that it was Kara. She was showing off apparently.

The raven haired women looked at her and cocked her head to the side. "You never should have taken him away from me."

Rogue rolled her eyes. "I didn't take him away from you. He used you Kara! He would of left you if I was there or not."

"That's debatable. He loved me well enough before you came into the picture."

As she spoke, she proceeded to take out a large knife and began to flash it around. "I should have made sure you were dead when I had the chance."

Rogue raised her fist in a fighting stance. "You should of. Now you cant kill me even if you wanted to."

Kara flashed a wicked smile. "You're right. I have been ordered not to kill you, but once I'm through with you you'll beg me to finish you off."

Rogue was uneasy and yet surprised when Kara placed the knife back into its hiding place.

Kara again spoke. "Don't be surprised. I'm a shifter. I am going to slice you up as much as I can a different way."

Kara began to shift into her favorite large cat.

Rogue knew that there was no possible way that she could fight her while she was a four hundred pound tiger, but she would do all that she could.

The tiger crouched low, and Rogue saw its shoulders move in a predatory fashion.

She didn't even have time to brace herself when she was attacked.

As Kara's claws and razor sharp teeth pierced her flesh, she prayed that her team would find her soon…that he would find her soon.

Her body felt like it was being ripped to pieces, and she soon lost consciousness.

To be continued…